Blue Haven Vaccination Update

Kiama Council’s Blue Haven Aged care Facility has now vaccinated 95 percent of its staff and 100 percent of aged care residents who opted for the COVID vaccine.

Blue Haven set up three on-site vaccination clinics for staff after securing its own supply of Pfizer vaccines to ensure all staff could receive their COVID jabs quickly and easily.

The staff vaccination rate hit 95 percent for a first dose of the vaccine this week, said Blue Haven Acting Director Dale Wakefield.

Mr. Wakefield also confirmed 88 percent of Blue Haven residents are fully vaccinated.

“This is 100 percent of Blue Haven residents who opted for a COVID-19 vaccine. The 12 percent of residents that are unvaccinated are those who opted out of vaccination for various reasons, including due to health conditions,” said Mr. Wakefield.

The latest state-wide lockdown across NSW has not seen a huge change in Blue Haven facility visitor restrictions after they previously made the cautious decision to abide by Greater Sydney requirements due to the vulnerable population they serve.

“We have been able to keep life for our residents as normal as possible during the lockdown, including marking Mother’s Day and Anzac Day,” said Kiama Mayor Mark Honey.

“We also proved senior Australians are not techno-phobes when it comes to using our video chat services with their loved ones.”

“I want to acknowledge these special efforts made to keep residents in touch with their family and friends during the lockdown and by our community services workers for maintaining contact with their clients at home,” Clr Honey said.

“We have a proud, 40-year tradition of providing exceptional aged care in Kiama. I’m pleased to see our staff collaborate with local authorities to secure vaccines so that we can continue to service our Blue Haven residents so well, especially during these trying times,” said Clr Honey.

Photo: Blue Haven employee Katie Jamieson gets her COVID-19 jab at the Blue Haven vaccination clinic.